Going Home
by EnglandBabe1997
Summary: Set during Last Stand (which I haven't actually seen). Raven goes home.
1. Prologue

**This is the beginning to a multi-chaptered fic I've had in my head a while and this prologue has actually been written for a while, so I've decided to post it, even if the other chapters haven't actually been written yet. I know where I'm going with this, but I've never seen Last Stand, so anyone that can help me please PM or review with an outline of the plot etc. **

***Prologue***

She was running again, alone and afraid. The only thing that was keeping her sane was the fact that he'd promised. He'd promised she would always be safe with him. He might've broken many promises over the years, but he'd never done it on purpose - not to her. He hadn't broken this one yet.

She knew he never meant to hurt her.

But it hadn't hurt any less.

So in the end she had left him, his promises. He'd wanted her to go. He always wanted what was best for her.

Even if she didn't know what was best for herself.

And now, now she didn't know what was best for her so she was running to only person she knew would. He'd promised her she would always have a home with him.

He'd always kept his word.

But she was scared. This was something she couldn't fix by fighting. This was something she couldn't fix by shifting. In fact, she couldn't shift at all. That was the problem.

She needed to feel_ safe_, just for a moment. It was a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time, one she'd almost forgotten. Almost. She remembered the feeling weakly.

And there was only one place, one _person_ who had made her feel like that.

Raven was going home.


	2. Chapter 1

**Here's the first proper chapter! I hope you like it xx**

***Chapter 1***

Charles hears her long before he sees her. He knows he promised to never read her mind and for the most part he'd kept that promise, even when she'd been working for the Brotherhood - against him, but within the area of his school all minds are forfeit to him. He scans them routinely, his students to check they are alright, and everyone else, to make sure they will not hurt his students. He can hear (feel) her anger and hurt from miles away, even before he realises who it is and can see what has happened from the very surface of her thoughts (and the news).

She is lost and alone and afraid.

He feels flattered that, even after all this time, she would still come to him.

He hates what they've become, mere strangers. Most of his X-men don't even know Mystique's real name, never mind that fact that she's his sister. He can't remember that last time they spoke, properly spoke. They've grown so far apart she's even willing to poison him, though he'd sensed that she'd asked Erik very thoroughly before conceding to the plan.

He knows why she left him and knows that he cannot blame anyone but himself, and perhaps Erik for seducing an insecure and confused young woman. He blames himself for that, not seeing how scared she was - of herself - not seeing her pain at his lack of acceptance. He blames himself because he'd promised to never read her mind and he didn't know how to function with people, how to read people, without it - and he'd never needed to before. She was the first person he'd ever considered constraining himself for, even before his parents. He trusted her, and loved her.

But he didn't understand people without their thoughts. Even when he was blocking them out he could hear a faint trace of their most trivial thought. For everyone except Raven. He'd been keeping his shields up for her for too long and he can't sense anything and so his mind automatically reverts back to when he could read her, seven years old and in need of protection. All of his interaction with her was based on his mind's instincts because if he can't trust that, trust the thoughts of others around him, then he's lost all faith in this world because there is nothing left.

She didn't get that it wasn't being blue he had a problem with. It was the nudity. She may have been beautiful in her natural form, but he was her brother. He didn't particularly want to _see_it.

They are different people now, harder. He wonders if there's still any of the old Raven left, the one who had coke at a bar and brushed her teeth with his toothbrush.  
He can feel her pain and her loneliness like it's his own, and in a way it is because siblings have a bond that goes beyond friendship and normal relationships - especially when there is a telepath involved - and knows that now she is actually sitting outside, almost on the steps of the school, her pride has gotten the better of her. She won't enter - not like this - and it's a miracle she hasn't been spotted by either one of the students or by one of the teachers. Luckily Charles doesn't have a class this lesson, instead wheeling out to meet her. It doesn't take long, not with everyone in class and far out of the way.

He finds her (sees her) sitting on the steps, looking sadly at the ramp he is wheeling down. She is brunette and wearing clothes for the first time in however many years. He pauses the wheelchair beside her and neither of them speak. They don't even look at each other - not in the eye. Then everything will have changed. They have not looked each other in the eye since 1962.

So many things have changed.

But so many things have stayed the same as well.

They are family.

And she doesn't hesitate to take the hand he offers to take her inside.

She follows him in and he can feel her wonder and her sadness at the changes in her childhood home. He can feel the loss and pain, descending on him like a cloud, because she may be his sister but he doesn't fully trust her anymore and so hovers on the edges of her mind, barely noticeable. She probably has noticed though - she grew up with a telepath for a brother after all and has spent immeasurable hours of time with Emma Frost as part of the Brotherhood.

They make it to Charles' bedroom undisturbed, Charles gently directing any students in his path out of the way. They reach his room quickly, quicker than Raven remembers, and she pushes open the door. Charles can feel her pang of sadness as she notes the changed heights of most things in the room, the handrails, the support.

So much time has passed and they are so different now to what they were before. Raven is a trained killer, looking barely older in her brunette form than she did in her blonde, in her natural human state. Charles is paralysed, aged, but also wiser. He is better at reading people without his telepathy but he is also less realistic, more ruthless. He knows now the price of war, even better than he did before, and now he knows that not everyone can be saved, no matter how much he'd like to.

But they are still family, still Charles and Raven Xavier against the world, even now when that world is torn apart by betrayal and greed and selfishness and power. Without speaking Raven climbs into the bed, trembling with the force of her tears sliding silently down her face.

He looks at her then, in the eye, and sees that despite everything, all the years, the deaths, she is still his little sister, to be protected from those that would cause her harm - even if she would now be the better one to do the protecting. He can see the same relief in her eyes and feels glad when he hears her think that she's glad she came home.

Charles takes a minute to manoeuvre out of his chair, even after so many years, but lies next to her, leaning on the pillows. He reaches forwards to take her hands, knowing they are no longer what they once were, but she collapses into his chest, tears soaking his shirt as her whole body shakes with the force of her cries.

They sit that way until her tears have stopped and then afterwards, into the silence, until both of them fall asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the wait on this - I'm back at school and it's exam season xx**

***Chapter 2***

When Raven wakes it is 1964, 1965. Until she opens her eyes, and she's not curling up against Erik like she'd once done, back in the first years of the brotherhood. She hasn't done that in thirty five years, not since Erik started getting even more serious and even more terrible to look in the eye. By that time she didn't even know if she was glad, because no matter how bloody her own hands were, his were _drenched_ in red.

She is leaning against her brother. For the first time in forty years she's stayed at home. She is rather surprised how much she's missed the feeling - only she hasn't realised it until now.

She is also surprised they haven't been interrupted yet - though she doubts that lucky coincidence will last for long.

Charles is still asleep when she wakes, looking innocent and closer to the man she'd known before Cuba than she's seen since. And she's ashamed that she hasn't seen much. They might have differences in opinions but they are still family. Family doesn't turn each other away - and Charles proved that last night, even risking the potential safety of his students.

And he did that for her.

She should've come back before, even if it wasn't to stay.

Charles stirs. Raven smiles softly before her eyes catch sight of his legs and a hint of revulsion passes over her, not at Charles, or even at the injury. She hates herself for abandoning him that day. She knows know that he would willingly have let her leave had she stayed just a bit longer, even though he hadn't wanted her too. And maybe if Azazel had gotten him to a proper hospital in time he'd still be able to walk.

Only she didn't and he can't and all she do is torment herself with the maybes and could've beens.

"Raven," Charles mumbles gently, catching the last thought. She might be his sister but he won't threaten all their safety by staying out of her mind.

"I thought you promised to stay out of my head," she replies softly, knowing that such a promise went out the window the first time she threatened his students.

Charles kisses her softly on the top of the head and moves towards the edge of the bed, to his chair. She can't even offer to help him; looks away as he settles himself.

"Why don't you get changed? I think I still have some of your old clothes in my wardrobe."

She wants to protest, after all they are forty years too out of date but he's already rolled through to the bathroom - the same one she'd stood in and brushed her teeth, in her natural form for once - and there's something in her head that can't stop saying 'he kept her stuff, he kept her stuff'. She smiles for a moment, alone in the room, and then quashes the voice ruthlessly.

There is no need for it now.

Charles needs her now - and maybe she needs him too. Neither of them need great gestures of sentimentality, even though she already knows that they'll be reduced to them, even within a few hours.

Raven rummages through the wardrobe and there, at the back, is a small pile of clothes, all ladies and in her size. She smiles at the sight of one blouse - she'd loved that once - and grimaces at an outfit she wore out to the pub with Charles. She doesn't know what to wear - none of it is exactly in the best condition - but she goes with a pair of jeans with the least holes in and rips a few more ones strategically, as has become fashionable, and pairs it with an old blouse.

She pulls off vintage quite well, she thinks as she turns in the mirror. It feels like she's flying for a moment, like she's ten years old again, newly off the streets and taken in by a kind, rich boy who can do things as odd as she can. She can't help but do it again until she's twirling and twirling and finally lets loose a single giggle.

There is a chuckle.

She jumps, almost falling into the mirror, and finds Charles watching her from the bathroom door. Considering pretending that was doing nothing, she decides against it. Charles has always been able to read her well - in some respects - and right now he's in her mind so it's really just a waste of energy. She stops spinning though, letting the smile linger on her face for just a fraction longer. A smile tugs at the corner of Charles' own mouth as he watches her eyes twinkling, and Raven's eyes darken again as she realises that the last time he'd been able to do that - that last time he'd done that - was the three nights before he'd met Moira in that bar, oh so long ago.

Charles catches the thought and flinches at the memory of Moira, hating that he'd wiped her memory. It wasn't the first time he'd done it, but it was the first time he'd done it to somehow he'd genuinely cared about.

Raven catches the flinch and traces her thoughts back to Agent McTaggert. She doesn't exactly direct the thought at him, just considers the idea and waits.

He says nothing.

And the moment passes. And even in the back of her head she cannot stop being curious about what happened, even though she could guess from what she'd heard.

It wasn't exactly the first time she'd seen him do it. Sharon Xavier had genuinely thought she'd adopted a little blond girl after all.

"I see you found your clothes."

Raven lets the thought drop. "Yes. Although you might've put some new ones out."

"I might've." Charles looks at her searchingly.

They haven't yet spoken about the events that brought her here - and they need to.

"I stood in front of him," she starts and Charles can see it all in her mind. "I took it for him. Didn't even think it was the cure. And he looked at me like I was nothing and left. After all these years."

Charles' eyes grow sad. "After all these years," he echoes, imagining all those years going differently.

"I was nothing to him. After all this time. Because I'm human now."

"You saw on the beach Raven." It's the first time she's heard him say he name aloud since Cuba and she can't bring herself to correct him.

"Yes. He hates humanity."

"We both know why," Charles says gently. And she does - she does now, once she caught sight of the numbers imprinted on his forearm and realised what they meant.

"I thought he would act differently," she says miserably and they both hear the unspoken 'for me' missing from the sentence.

Charles had stopped believing that a long time ago, with a helmet and a coin and a bullet to the spine. Instead he pulls her close and lets the tears once again drip through his shirt.


	4. Chapter 3

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed and read this x Please tell me what you think of this chapter - I hope you enjoy it xx I'm sorry for how short this chapter turned out - I swear it looked longer on my phone xx This one is quite different to my other chapters and is more the the point of view of Storm xx**

***Chapter 3***

It had been just another ordinary slightly sunny (which, for once had had nothing to do with her) Tuesday that Storm found Logan sniffing his way down one of the corridors, looking tense, with his claws unsheathed. He looked up and caught her eye, sniffing again before he relaxed only slightly.

"What _are_ you doing?"

"I can smell something," Logan spat, beginning to sniff again and making his way back down the corridor. "I think it's Mystique."

Storm froze for a moment before hurrying down the corridor to the Professors office, which was conveniently nearby. It was empty.

She looked desperately around inside, looking for any kind of hint to where he was, before remembering that he was supposed to have a class. After asking one of the younger students if she'd heard of the whereabouts of the headmaster, the little girl simply told Storm that the Professor had given them the day off - and he'd given them the afternoon off yesterday as well.

No one had seen the Professor since.

Practically running down the corridor, though trying not to incite any panic, Storm and Logan dashed their way through the students to check the Professor's private rooms in the more secluded area of the school. It only took five minutes but her heart raced the whole way, her head picturing hundreds of different images, each worse than the last.

Halfway down one corridor Logan froze and stiffened, before hurrying at a new pace. "It's definitely Mystique."

Storm simply ran faster.

No matter how impolite it was, when she reached the Professor's bedroom door she simply lunged for the handle and flung the heavy wood open without knocking. The Professor was seated on his bed and a young brunette pulled herself out of his arms to stand defensively in front of him, relaxing only minutely when she recognised them.

Who was that?

She received her answer when Logan crouched slightly and snarled, unsheathing his claws. "Mystique."

"Wolverine," the brunette replied, quite brightly for someone who was now entirely human, even if she was well trained.

"Get away from the Professor," Storm warned.

Mystique rolled her eyes and turned to the Professor, surprising them as the move meant she wasn't watching them at all times and slightly exposed her back.

"Why do they call you the Professor?" She asked, sounding quite put out. "My name was much better!"

The Professor smiled slightly in response, startling Storm - though she attempted to hide it. "You know Alex and Sean. They started calling me Professor X like you did but over time it got shortened to just the Professor."

"It's very pretentious, don't you think?"

"I know. But they were the ones who nicknamed me it." The Professor almost seemed to be pouting at the brunette.

"Aww, deary." Mystique went to ruffle the Professor's hair but froze in the middle of the motion at Logan's vicious growl.

"Peace Logan," the Professor said calmly.

Mystique snorted. "Nah, I can't imagine him as a hippy with flowers in his hair, or whatever it was they sang about," She decided flippantly.

As Charles moved himself back into his wheelchair he warned, "Raven..."

"Raven?" Storm asked, confused but still wary.

Mystique waved.

"Raven Xavier at your service." She gave a slight mock bow, not entirely exposing the back of her neck or her actual back to them.

"Xavier?" Storm choked.

The Professor frowned mildly at Mystique, rolling forwards and throwing her a slight look. "Why don't you finish off getting dressed?"

In apparent deference to his request Mystique started rummaging around in the heavy oak wardrobe. "Okay, so you kept my clothes, but did you keep my shoes?" Her voice was muffled.

"There should be some at the back," Charles told her.

Storm and Logan watched this interaction in utter bewilderment. These people were on opposite sides of a _war_. Why were they discussing shoes? Why did the Professor even _have_ a pair of her shoes?

Poking her head back out of the wardrobe, Raven climbed to her feet and headed towards the bathroom, leaving Charles alone with Storm and Logan. She flashed a cheeky grin back at him, though still wary of the X-men, and flounced off to finish off getting ready. 'Behave yourself Raven,' he sent after her.

'But it's so much fun to play with them,' was the last thought he caught in reply.

Storm shook herself out of her shock. "Are you alright Professor?" She asked in a panic, rushing forwards to inspect him.

"I am perfectly fine, my dear." Charles gave her a affectionate smile.

"She didn't hurt you, did she?"

Charles shook his head fondly. "No."

"What was that about?" Logan asked, sounding as though he'd had a very recent blow to the head.

"That was me welcoming home an old friend."

"It was _Mystique_."

"Actually, no it isn't. She doesn't have her mutant powers anymore. Therefore she is simply Raven Xavier again."

"Yeah, what was _that_ all about?" Logan sounded more than slightly puzzled and still hadn't retracted his claws.

"We need to hand her over to the authorities," Storm announced, missing the last part of the conversation.

"We need to kill her," Logan growled in disagreement, flexing his claws threateningly.

"Logan!" Charles said sharply.

"What? She's too dangerous if she gets loose again."

"You harm my sister, I am not responsible for what happens."

"Your..._what_?" Storm choked, sitting down on the bed gingerly.

"My sister. You touch her I will not be able to restrain myself."

Astonished but still angry Logan attempted to provoke the Professor. "I already have."

Charles eyed him sharply. "I know. In a battle context. If you attack her without provocation in her own home, I will kill you." Charles sounded - for once - serious.

The two were eyeing each other carefully, but not wearily.

At that same moment Rogue wandered past outside the door, on one of her frequent trips just walking around the mansion. She paused in the doorway and took in the scene, examining all their expressions; including Charles' edginess, Storm's slack mouth and Logan's claws.

"What's going on here?" She asked in her distinctive Southern twang.

Storm blinked twice and took a deep breath. "I honestly don't know."


	5. Chapter 4

**I hope this chapter is alright. As you can see, this is mainly from the point of view of Raven, from halfway through the last chapter and then beyond that. Please read and review xx**

***Chapter 4***

She flounces into the bathroom and the door shuts behind her. In an instant her smile drops. She knows that Charles can tell the difference - can always tell the difference - between her fake smiles and the real ones but she can't let any of these X-men see her weak. It is like a shark and blood in the water.

She puts on her old shoes, that luckily still fit, and makes sure that all traces of her tears have been washed away; before borrowing Charles' toothbrush to brush her teeth.

She is halfway through that before she remembers the last time she did this, back before Cuba and Erik. She misses those times - the simple, easy ones. She'd had to hide yes, but now she thought that hiding couldn't hurt worse than this.

When she leaves the bathroom again Charles in still by the bed in his chair, the dark skinned woman (Storm, she thinks her name is) sitting on the bed and Logan is standing by the door, claws still extended. In the doorway there in the dark haired girl, the one with the white streak, the one that Raven imitated once to get under Logan's skin. It had worked - and worked well.

The girl - Rogue, she thinks her name is - looks confused.

As the door swings shut again they all turn to look at her, all of them except Charles.

Logan snarls, "What are you doing here, Mystique?" because Raven doubts he's original enough to come up with multiple questions in such a short time frame.

"Visiting brother dearest," She says brightly, hoisting the brilliant smile back onto her face. She already knows it doesn't look fake - she's had so much practice pretending to be other people that a vaguely convincing smile is second nature now.

Rogue, who has apparently only been given half an explanation, coughs. "Brother?"

They ignore her.

"You can't be the Professor's sister!"

"The Professor's _what?_"

She smiled in a way that she knew would infuriate them. "Why can't I?"

"Because he would've told us!" Storm says insistently.

"Charles?"

Charles rolls his eyes. "Enough, Raven."

She pouts.

"Storm, I didn't tell you because I knew you would react like this."

"Like what?" she shrieks, proving Charles' point rather well.

Rogue moves into the room, ignoring Logan's concerned glance as she moves past Mystique and sits down beside the slightly hysterical older woman, patting her gently on the arm, watching the conversation curiously.

"I'm starving," Raven says cheerfully. "Let's get breakfast!"

Everyone looks startled by the change in conversation topic, but Raven is good at that. Then they miss other things, like what she is doing and what she isn't saying.

"Don't give them _all_ heart attacks," Charles warns her as she makes her way out of the room.

"Will do!"

She is already halfway down the corridor before Logan manages to shake himself from his stupor long enough to ask, "Should we be letting her wander around the mansion alone?"

There is a rush of feet for the door and Raven lets a real smile slip as she skips off to the kitchen.

* * *

She supposes she can't help it. During her time as Erik's second in command there had been very little opportunities for fun - she'd learnt to take her amusement where she could and if she couldn't, create some.

Emma Frost had taught her a lot about that.

Luckily (for them) she reaches the kitchen without bumping into anyone else, and Rogue, Storm and Logan are barely seconds behind her. She also knows that Charles would be along in a minute - unlikely to leave her alone with all of his X-men, some on whom are liable to attack her the minute her back is turned.

Logan watches her beadily, like a hawk. It's mildly creepy.

Sure enough, Charles rolls into the kitchen as she's reaching for the toaster and seats himself at the table.

"Do you remember the first time we were both in here?" She reminisces sadly.

Charles grins softly. "You broke into my kitchen."

"You broke into my head."

"You impersonated my mother," Charles shoots back.

"...I offered to make you hot chocolate. I don't do that for just anyone." Charles has her at the mother thing - there aren't many worse things she could've done. Parents are something that most X-men - _mutants_ - loath or treasure and you don't give them up lightly.

"Well, I'm flattered then."

"You should be."

The X-men are watching this like a tennis match, their heads swivelling backwards and forwards, all looking completely lost.

"_What?_" Rogue asks again, hoping this time to receive an answer.

Charles restrains the urge to roll his eyes, knowing it isn't Rogue's fault that she doesn't know. "Raven is my sister."

"Wait a second. Who's Raven?"

Charles indicates her. "You know her as Mystique."

Rogue nods, slightly looking mildly bewildered.

"Anyway, when she was seven Raven broke into this house to steal food and when I came down offered to make me hot chocolate. I saw into her mind, realised she wasn't my mother and asked her using telepathy who she was. Raven then reverted back into her natural form."

Raven looks at him fondly. "You aren't alone."

Charles' smile turns bittersweet at the memory, of drowning men and a metal ship and the CIA.

Raven, realising what she's just said sends him an apologetic look with an accompanying thought and Charles nods back slightly. This exchange is observed, but none of the others understand what it means.

"After that he couldn't get rid of me."

"You didn't have to put up with me, you could've left anytime you wanted to."

"You tell me that now..."

Both of them wince as their instinctual comments catch up to their brain, reminding them of everything that has happened in the last years. In the end Raven _had_ left and in the end Charles hadn't stopped her. An awkward silence falls over the kitchen, although Storm can't work out why she feels so pressured to keep silent. The two 'siblings' (she doesn't quite know if she believes them yet, or if Mystique had just recently developed some kind of mind control) are staring at each other, trying to read beneath the surface after all these years. Both their eyes are unconsciously blank, the windows to the soul, but they've always been able to read each other better than that.

Who needs souls when they've got each other?

Only they haven't got each other anymore, not really. They're just pretending they have, like everything is still the same.

But everything has changed and nothing is the same anymore and no matter how instinctual this banter is, they need time to rediscover everything about each other again.

But Raven thinks that, no matter how hard it will be, she might just be ready for that.


	6. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the wait on this, I had three exams last week and found it easier to finish off some of my old projects xx Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed, please read and review for this chapter as well!**

***Chapter 5***

Charles smiles slightly. Raven is willing to try again. For them to be a proper family, the kid of family he's missed, even with all his students around him. The mansion has not been emtpy in years, but even with everyone else Charles has always felt something missing. It's been missing ever since his very first X-men disbanded, on a beach in Cuba, so very many years ago.

"This is all very well," Rogue says briskly, finally snapping out of her shock. "But what are we supposed to do with her?" She eyes their enemy (former according to Charles) warily, but not mistrustfully.

"Me?" Raven flutters her eyelashes obnoxiously, reaching over into the fridge.

"Yes, you," Logan growls angrily, twitching his fingers, his claws only just hidden under the skin.

Raven pulls out a carton of milk and sways over to the kitchen table, looking entirely unfazed.

Charles throws her a slight look before saying, "I'm not expecting you to let her wander freely around the mansion. She will be sleeping back in her old room and when in there she doesn't need to be monitored. However, around the mansion she must be accompanied by at least one senior member of the X-men."

There was a slight pause.

"You kept my room?" Raven sounds slightly incredulous.

"Of course."

Raven puts a hand to her chest. "I'm touched. Really." There is an edge in her voice and an odd softness in her face that says she is telling the truth. "But I'm going to need to go shopping."

Charles nods.

Rogue looks at their former enemy appraisingly. "I'll take her." After all neither of them are mutants are anymore.

Storm looks sharply at the younger woman.

Rogue looks at her defiantly. "What? Am I incapable now that I'm not a mutant?"

Storm says nothing, but holds her gaze. "I'll come with you."

Charles, defusing the rising tension, says, "That's wonderful. Thank you Ororo, Marie."

"Your welcome Professor." Rogue still doesn't look away from Storm.

"How about later on today then?" Charles asks cheerfully.

Storm looks at him. "Okay."

Raven just shifts from where she's seated at the table and grins.

* * *

When they come back from shopping, almost six hours later, Raven is wearing new clothes, Rogue looks far more relaxed and even Storm is carrying a shopping bag of her own. The three girls look slightly more settled, less likely to mistrust each other.

Charles rather enjoys the ebb in tensions. He could see that becoming annoying rather fast. He is actually surprised that Storm managed so long.

Logan is standing next to him when they return, having hovered anxiously since the girls had left. His fingers have not stopped trembling and he's actually unsheathed his claws a few times, before retracting them under the Professor's stern gaze.

"Rogue!" He says loudly as they enter the mansion. "Storm!" He eyes both girls, inspecting them for any kind of injury, and Storm walks over to join him by the stairs. Rogue stays with Raven and the Professor, who has wheeled over the meet them.

"Why not get freshened up for dinner?" The Professor suggests in a tone that is more like an order.

Rogue sends Raven a tiny smile, understanding the other girl because they are both influenced by the cure, and then makes her way up the stairs with her bags.  
Charles catches the smile and conceals one of his own, suspecting that Raven already has an ally, if not a friend, in the mansion. Raven is good at getting what she wants like that.

Storm follows the brunette up the stairs, looking back once before continuing.

That just left Charles, Raven and Logan.

Charles says, "Come along Raven," before wheeling himself down the corridor. He has not been instructed otherwise, and so Logan joins them.

"Did you buy anything nice?"

Mystique - Raven - smiles. "Well, it's all more fashionable. The only things that you saved in your wardrobe are all terribly out of date."

Charles puts a hand to his chest in mock offence, using the other to wheel down the hallway.

"But thank you anyway for saving my clothes." There is something soft in her gaze, something Logan can't believe she's showing even in his presence. Sometimes he can't believe that Mystique and this off-beat brunette are the same person, and maybe that's what she wants them to think.

"Your welcome." The Professor reaches out and squeezes her hand.

Soon enough they reach a room that Logan has never seen before, nor entered. Raven pokes the door open, revealing a dusty room, the furniture covered in white sheets and an old musty scent in the air.

"I had the boys help me with storing everything."

Logan wonders who the boys are, but Raven has a wistfully fond smile on her face.

"They did well, didn't they?"

Charles squeezes her hand. "They did. But they missed you. You and Erik both."

Raven looks at him and Logan knows the pair are sharing a silent conversation. He wonders whether he should back out, but he's never really taken other people's feelings into consideration before and tact isn't his strong point, so he stays.

The silent conversation only lasts a few minutes before Charles blinks and Raven looks away, hiding her surprise at the fact that Logan is still in the room, and knowing that it isn't really that surprising.

"We'll leave you to sort out the room and get ready for dinner."

Raven nods, putting her bags down on the floor and starting to shake off the white sheets, clouds of dust billowing into the air.

Logan is out the door first, wondering why he stayed in the first place, followed by the Professor.

"Charles!" Mystique calls after them.

Charles doesn't move back in, dimpling freezing and turning around in his chair.

"Where did you put my toothbrush?"

Logan has no idea what the statement means, beyond the obvious, but it obviously means something to the Professor, what with the grin that lights up his face and the burst of laughter that escapes.

"In your bathroom!" The Professor is still chuckling to himself as he rolls down the hall, and when he looks back Logan sees that Mystique is doubled over in a bout of similar hysterics.


	7. Chapter 6

**I hope you like this one, I think this story will be coming to a close soon - I think I know how I'm going to end this, even though I haven't watched X-men The Last Stand yet x Please read and review x**

***Chapter 6***

Dinner that evening was tense. The students didn't seem to know what was causing the tension, only that all of the senior staff members were on edge - all of them except for Professor X and maybe Rogue.

Their tension was somewhat explained, but not entirely cleared up, by the entrance of a brunette, with sparkling mischievous eyes and a slight smirk. Most of the staff instinctively tensed at her entrance, postioning themselves defensively, even under Charles' disapproving stare.

The students saw this and began to react defensively, fingers sparking and shields forming. The brunette tensed minutely, but continued her way to the staff table, ignoring their hostile looks.

"Settle down," Charles ordered, students turning to him startled and relaxing under his stern gaze.

Within a minute every student was back in their seat, their powers extinguished. Raven grinned at the sight. This had been her brother's dream, ever since the first class of X-men.

"Tonight we have Raven joining us for dinner, and for the foreseeable future. You may know her already as Mystique." The older students stepped in front of the younger ones, now understanding the tense looks. "However whilst here she is Raven Xavier, and is to be welcomed back into her home. She has been given the cure and will be supervised by one of the senior team almost all of the time, so none of you need to worry. Do they?" He directed this last bit pointedly at Raven.

"Not at all."

The students, unsurprisingly, didn't seem to believe her. Nor did they believe that Mystique was in any way related to the Professor.

"Thank you dear."

Raven smirked again, enjoying stirring up trouble. "You're welcome. Brother."

There was a moment of silence before hushed whispers and hisses broke out over the hall, erupting like miniature fires, sounding disbelieving.

"Settle down children. It's time for dinner," Charles said, as though nothing of particular interest had just happened. Most of the students looked startled at the reminder that they were supposed to be eating, not gossiping.

No one ate much that evening, no one except for Raven and Charles. The others were far too busy eyeing Raven warily and inspecting her every move. Even Charles' insistence on eating had almost no effect, most students instead ferreting around in the kitchen later that evening, once all of the discussions had been concluded.

* * *

The next day rumours spread like wildfire, whispers in the corridor. Mystique actually had some mind controlling powers, Charles had been replaced by an imposter.

All sorts of rumours were flying around, become wilder and wilder, more and more tangled and confusing. Even Charles, who wasn't to find these sorts of things amusing, couldn't help but laugh at some of the imaginative things his students had come up with.

He shared some of their ideas with Raven and the two had had a good long discussion on the merits of some of the ideas, and then just laughed themselves silly at others.

Raven had been walking to her room, escorted by Rogue and Ice Man, when she'd noticed the stares. It was like she was an animal in the zoo, all of them tracking her every minute movement like they were fascinating. Raven was having fun simply with this, pretending to make some sort of secret gesture or code. It helped that she'd learnt Morse Code a few years ago, so she could tap actual messages into her leg that sent everyone else into a nervous frenzy, even under Charles' mildly amused gaze.

"_Raven_" Charles warned her in her head, fed up of the suspicious looks the others were sending her way and the way she encouraged them.

"_Yes brother?" _She replied innocently.

"_You know well what. Stop baiting them._"

Raven's mouth tugged up in a grin and the others caught the motion, their eyes honing in on the slight twitch, all of them tensing.

Raven couldn't help burst out laughing.

The others startled, facing her with straight backs and sparking fingers, eyeing her suspiciously. Raven widened her eyes innocently and cocked her head slightly, barely restraining her laughter as almost every person in a ten foot radius followed her action unconsciously.

"_Raven..._" Charles repeated.

Raven slumped back, hiding her pout now that her fun had been ruined, knowing that would only cause further suspicion and rile Charles up even further; instead choosing to head up to her room, knowing that Charles would probably be up to join her shortly.

* * *

He was, in barely five minutes. She could tell that he'd been accompanied by at least three other X-men but Charles sent them all away, rolling into her room alone.

"Do you miss it?" she asked so suddenly it would confused anyone other than a mind reader.

"Yes." Always. He doesn't broadcast the thought, but Raven knows what he's thinking anyway. He's never been that good at hiding things from her - apart from on that beach when he'd hidden how bad his injury was.

He hears the thought pass through her head and the glimmer of guilt and pain that flickers with it and grabs onto her hand, squeezing it softly. "I'll always miss you. And Erik. And even the boys."

"After all this time?" Raven whispers.

Charles is tempted to say always, just to break the tension, but they need to talk about this sometime. Most of the time so far they've talked about Raven, her life, her past, not Charles'.

"Yes."

"After everything he's done?" She doesn't say I, but he heard it anyway.

"I promised you didn't I?"

Raven chokes back a laugh. "_Pinky_ promised it," She reminds him of the childish action, herself a girl barely more than eleven or tweleve, Charles only a few years older.

"You see? And you can't go back on a pinky promise."

Raven thinks that you can. She's gone back on much more. Like family.

Charles can't bear to hear her thinking that and immediately changes the subject and doesn't stop until she laughs. They've had enough tension and suspicious looks for tonight, from everyone else. They don't need to start acting suspicious of each other.

Not now.

Charles can already sense something shifting out in the big wide world, something he can't quite pin- point. And he knows it will change everything.


	8. Chapter 7

**I'm sorry for the wait on this x I've actually had most this written for a few days, but I've been too busy to complete it x please read and review x I think there will be an epilogue x**

***Chapter 7***

He can sense something in the air, like something is coming. Perhaps it's part of being a telepath, being naturally more strongly attuned to the matrices of the world, their ins and outs.

Sometimes Charles imagines that he can feel the world turning beneath his feet, that he can feel the seas swaying in the breeze. Because his reach is so far now that he can feel that, through other people. He can sense it in their minds.

People are people and they never change.

Only now they are.

Something fundamental is changing, Charles can feel it.

It's only the matter of what is changing that is the problem.

Because Charles can't pin-point anything. All he can feel is the shifting beneath his feet, like the earth is being reshaped. He can't tell what it's being sculptured into.

There is tension growing between the mutants and the non-mutants, stronger than ever before. Tensions are mounting between the mutants with the mutants, only that's been the case since 1962.

People are going to die over this, Charles can feel it. Innocent blood will be spilt, and for what?

Bloodshed has never helped before. Why should it now?

But still, he pretends he can't feel the turning of the earth, it drawing ever closer its own destruction, and holds classes and lectures students and talks with Raven.

And the only one he doesn't fool is her.

She's always known him better than that, known how to see the secrets he keeps hidden under the surface. She can see beyond that.

She always has been able to, even as the world changes and the ground shifts, that stays the same.

Sometimes he is grateful for it. Other times it gets on his nerves because then Raven worries about whatever's bothering him, and in spirals round in cycles. He's the big brother - he should be the one looking out for her, not the other way round.

But they've never exactly been a traditional family, have they? One of them reads minds and the other one is naturally blue - it's a crisis made for reality TV heaven.

Still, he's supposed to be watching out for Raven, protecting her. How can he do that when she tries to spend all her time protecting him?

How can he not love her for that?

Because he knows how that feels - when he sheltered her from the pain that had been caused in Cuba, when he hadn't told them how seriously injured he was, how bad the damage could be. He would be a hypocrite if he didn't let her do this to some extent.

For some reason she needs to.

And so the world starts changing and Raven stays the same, and Charles is just fine with that.

* * *

There is something going on, Raven knows it. Charles is nowhere to be found but the school is in turmoil, the students running around like headless chickens. None of the other teachers can be found, so for once Raven is wandering unaccompanied around the mansion.

Charles had looked off and hurried when they'd last seen each other, squeezing her hand even tighter than usual, weary lines present around his eyes.

It is in the basement that she finds the answers to her confusion, Jean Grey who with her sacrifice at Alkali Lake had unleashed something more terrible and uncontrollable than any of them could imagine. Cyclops had gone missing, Wolverine and Storm were nowhere to be found and her brother had apparently gone in pursuit of his former student, hoping to control what was uncontrollable.

He always had tried too hard with things he shouldn't.

Erik was a great example of that.

None of the others knew what could happen, Rogue and Iceman left to keep the students in line. They'd cancelled all the classes and sent the students to their dorm rooms, which only helped to fuel the rumours that were running rampant through the school.

Raven knew she couldn't help, not without her powers. She was powerless. For the first time in her life she truly couldn't do anything to help.

The only thing she was liable to do was distract Charles, and that was something none of them needed.

So, for now, she'd stay in the mansion as Charles had asked her and she would keep her ears open for as to how she could help.

She couldn't just sit here and do nothing.

She_ had_just sat there and done nothing. And whilst she had sat there and done nothing, her brother had died.

Charles was dead.

Charles Xavier, who had lived through everything life had deemed fit to throw at him, had died at the hands of one of his former beloved students.

He had disintegrated, been blasted into barely specks on the carpet.

There was nothing of him left, nothing more than ashes.

Charles was dead. And what he'd left behind was a pile of dust, a school for mutants, and a wheelchair.

It wasn't enough.

None of it was enough.

How could someone as great as Charles die like this? How could he die alone? Why hadn't Raven been with him?

He'd died alone, if not afraid.

He'd died at the hands of someone he'd trusted.

Well, Raven supposed he was used (_had_been used to) to betrayals like that - Erik being a prime example. He'd been paralysed at the hands of someone he trusted, no matter how much he insisted it was an accident.

And now he was dead.

Raven knew that if they could speak he would probably tell her that this was an accident as well. And maybe he would be right. Maybe it was an accident.

But Raven didn't care about whether or not it was an accident. Her brother was dead.

And it was the Phoenix's fault, and Erik's fault for pushing her. Erik, who had fallen so far.

He had fallen too far beyond her reach now.

And she was glad for it. Or else she'd have to help him crawl out of the abyss.

It was far easier to keep him there, as a reminder of what he'd done. He'd killed what had once been his only friend, the one person who had always for given him - despite everything.

Charles, who made all these promises and requests, and only saw the best of you, despite the darkness in your soul.

Charles had promised she would never be alone again.

But Charles was dead.

And Raven was alone.


	9. Epilogue

**Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed x Ironically I got X-Men Last Stand today, but I can't watch it yet, so even the epilogue isn't necessarily canon x Please read and review x**

***Epilogue***

The funeral is large, as Raven knew it would be. Most of them are crying, or are close to it - even Raven who will not seriously let her guard down long enough to cry.  
It is the first time she's spoken to Sean or Alex or even Hank since that fateful day in Cuba. They have seen each other since, of course, but only on the battlefield where there is no place for idle chit-chat.

There is no place for that at a funeral either.

She avoids the crowd, choosing instead to only mingle with the people who knew her before Cuba or know of - and believe in- her reformation. That is pretty much limited to Sean, Hank, Alex, Moira and Rogue. As such, Raven spends most of the funeral at the edge of the woods, watching, and knowing she is not welcome. It doesn't take her brothers gift to know that.

It hurts slightly, to think of what she lost that day on the beach, the trust and love of her friends.

But the past is the past and it cannot be changed, no matter what she wishes. And if she could change the past she wouldn't waste it on a silly little thing like her own personal feelings - there are many better things she could change for the better.

Like this. She could fix it so that her brother never died.

And that thought brings back all the heartache, the gut wrenching pain stronger than anything she's ever felt.

She can't even stay for the end of the funeral, mistrusted and watched suspiciously at her oldest friend and family's whilst there.

It hurts too much.

* * *

She finds herself in a park. She doesn't know exactly how she got here, or when, and she doesn't care to remember. She's not sure why she decided to come here, and doesn't think she consciously did.

Raven recognises it as the place that Erik would go to see Charles, the two of them playing chess like nothing had ever happened between them. She knows that because she'd followed Erik once, curious, and although she knows that Charles sensed her he didn't say anything.

She was grateful, because she knew Erik would be furious and she was glad of the chance to see her brother again. Charles hadn't spoken directly to her, respecting her wishes to keep him out of her head, but he'd affectionately brushed his mind against her own and for the next week, despite the battles of the brotherhood, she'd felt soothed and loved.

That had been several years ago.

It would never - could never - happen again.

She sat at one of the chess tables, shivering slightly. She wanted to pretend it was the wind, even though she knew it wasn't.

"Mystique?" The soft voice came from behind her.

Raven stiffened slightly. "Raven." She tells him. "You know that already Erik."

Erik tensed at her implication before relaxing and sitting opposite her. The one thing he could never doubt is her inability to seriously harm him (in a rational state of mind). "I do."

Raven glared at him. "It's your fault you know? You and your stupid dream."

"I was doing what was best. Do you no longer believe in the cause?"

"I do. I did." She starts. "But Charles is dead." Her eyes are pained and dark, fighting back tears, because tears are _weak_ and that is not her at all.

Erik couldn't hide the pain in his own eyes. "There is always a price," He tried to convince himself.

Raven hissed. "Not Charles though. Not Charles. What did he do to deserve this?"

Erik sighed. "My dear, you will come to realise that things like that rarely come to those who deserve it."

Raven snarled lightly. "Anyone else. Anyone."

Erik looked at her, something like pity or horror or maybe familiarity in his gaze.

She stood up sharply, hearing the creak of wood beneath her fingers. Erik remained seated, watching her walk away as he had once done to her.

He stayed there for a long time, as the evening grew colder, staring at the chess game. Life was a game of chess.

You had to make the players move.

Only he couldn't do that anymore, not without his mutation.

But maybe he could try. With Charles gone the mutants would need someone.

He'd already let Raven down once. Never again. Not like he'd failed Charles.


End file.
